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T H E JOURITAL OF LVDCSTRIAL A X D ETGITEERIATG CHEMISTRY
The thoroughness of the work and the investigations of Baron Auer are indicated by the fact that although the last quarter of a century has brought much enlightenment into the field of rare-earth chemistry, there is, however, today no satisfactory substitute for his basic invention. Originally the rare earths had never heretofore been produced in great purity or in large quantities, and the science of chemistry and thc research of the chemist was called upon to remove many obstacles in this direction before the industry was successfully launched. RIanp complex problems were undcrtaken and solved before an efficient manufacturing process, which is, of course, absolutely essential to the economic development of the incandescent gas-light industry, was attained. I t was early found that much depended upon the satisfactory and uniform character of the organic or vcgetable fiber which was to be reproduced in mineral form in the incandescent mantle. The deleterious influence of impurities entering the light-giving body through this channel was soon demonstrated, and bleaching and cleaning processes had to be refined and perfected until a product of thc required degree of purity was produced. It \vas soon discovered that the length of fiber or staple of the mantle fabric had much to do with the strength and durability of the finished product. Long staple or Scn Island cotton mas in demand for this purpose, but the longer fibered ramie or China-grass mas later made use oi after it had been finally degummed, bleached and washed, a problem successfully accomplished by chemical research. These developnients made possible the inverted or pendant type of incandescent gas burner. The mantle manufacturer has held before himself for many years certain ideals towards which he has earnestly striven. Among these may be mentioned: strength with elasticity, high and maintained candle power, preservation of color and absence of shrinkage. A realization of these ideals seems finally t o have been met in the mantles made from the bundle of homogeneous elastic, spring-like fibers knoivn as artificial silk. Chemical science was engaged for a generation in the solution of this intricate problem, but even after a satisfactory quality of artificial silk had been produced, long years of patient research were needed before the incandescent mantle chemist was able to utilize this material in the preparation of an ideal mantle, and the final successful solution of this problem ranks high among the chemical accomplishments of this industry. The protective coating, which carries the finished mantle from the factory to the consumer, has always been an item of great importance. At first incandescent mantles were coated by dipping in an alcoholic solution of shellac, Tvhich was made slightly flexible upon drying by the addition of a gum, or nondrying oil. The development of the nitrocellulose industry, and the invention of soluble cotton opened up a new field for the mantle maker, and the knowledge gained of the many varieties of nitrocellulose and their numerous solvents, together with the ability to control such characteristics as viscosity and hygroscopic effects, has now made it possible to prepare collodion solutions of almost ideal qualities and adapted to the ever-increasing variety of incandescent mantlcs. .I11 of these have been chemical and physical problems demanding research work of the highest order, and to the science represented by the chemist must be credited the present state oi efficiency and economy of the incandescent gas light which bears the inventor’s name “ ITelsbach.” GLOCCESTER, h-EW JERSEY
CONTRlBUTlONS OF THE CHERllST TO THE TEXTZE
INDUSTRY B y FRANKLIN W. HOBBS
President Arlington Mills and Past President American Cotton Manufacturers’ Association
Chemistry has made many and varied contributions to the
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textile industries and in the brief space of this article it will be possible to mention, briefly, only a few of the most important. Among the primitive races the use of colors undoubtedly preceded the use of textiles and it is probable that the earliest fabrics were colored with stains obtained from fruits and plants. We can imagine t h a t by progressive steps it was found that some stains faded or washed out quicker than others and there was a gradual selection of those found best. Then came the discovery of the influence of heat and boiling, followed, perhaps accidentally, by the knowledge t h a t certain salts precipitated some dyes and that cloths impregnated with these salts retained their colors longer. This discovery of mordants was perhaps the fi.rst real point of contact between chemistry and textiles. The date is unknown, but we do know that alum and iron salts were used by the ancient Egyptians. Bleaching was also known to the oldest peoples. It was first known t h a t cloths of linen or cotton became whiter when dried in the sun and sun bleaching became a common practice. Then came the development in the use of soaps and alkalis followed by the discovery of the bleaching property of chlorine. Alter this came the use of electrolytic chlorine, liquid chlorine and peroxide of hydrogen. The use of chlorine, of course, is not adapted to mool, but in early times the use of sulfur in bleaching v-001 was known and peroxide of hydrogen also is now used on that fiber. Improvements in methods of dyeing have gone hand in hand n-ith chemical progress. The introduction of mordants already mentioned widened the range of available colors. Insoluble colored salts such as tannate or iron, chrome yellow and Prussian blue were made use of and the active principles of some of the natural dyes were separated and purified. The reducing action which takes place during fermentation was utilized a t a very early date in the dyeing of indigo, and the fermentation vat is still in use. The greatest advance in the chemistry of dyeing came in the production oi“ Mauve by Perkin in 1856,which was followed by the marvelous development of the coal-tar dyestuff industry. This discovery is said to have led to the investment of $j50,ooo,ooo in the coal-tar industry and has revolutionized the production of dyestuffs. Many of these colors are fugitive, but faster colors have been gradually produced and there are now fully one thousand brands on the market from which to choose. Of course many woo1 colors are not adapted to cotton and oice wrsa. There is an unquestioned superiority in many of the artificial colors over most of the so-called natural dyes. The effect of synthetic alizarine upon the raising of madder was profound, for, as a result, a whole industry was destroyed. None the less startling was the discovery of synthetic indigo which was achieved after long endeavor and great expenditure of money and affected indigo-grom-ing countries like India very greatly. A s is often the case with great discoveries, loss comes to some in the readjustment, but in the end the world, as a whole, gains. T o chemistry and the research of chemists all over the world are due these great advancements in the knowledge and preparation of dyestuffs, and, as a result, a new industry unknown through all the ages has now been developed. I n this connection, showing what chemistry has done, it is interesting in passing to note that the “Purple of Tyre,” the dye used on royal robes in ancient times and which was obtained a drop a t a time bY killing small shell fish, has been analyzed and reproduced as a brominated indigo compound. The romance of the ancients has become a chemical formula of the moderns! One of the greatest discoveries in its effect on the cotton industry was t h a t made in 1850 by John Mercer of the process now known as “Mercerization.” By a strange chance, however, he simply found that the treatment made cotton yarns and fabrics stronger and gave a greater affinity for dyes, but he did not notice
Apr., 1915
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
that the process when properly carried out under tension produced luster. F’or more than forty years this process was little used and little appreciated. It was not until about 1895 that the great increase in luster due to mercerizing under tension was appreciated and its commercial advantages realized. Since then the art has gone forward by leaps and bounds, and today the production of mercerized cotton yarns and cloths is enormous, and has had far-reaching effects on cotton textiles. I n many ways it marks the greatest advance in recent years in that branch of the textile industries. Artificial silk is another great contribution chemistry has made t o textiles. This was invented by Count de Chardonnet and was first exhibited in Paris in 1889. Development was slow and a t first, from a financial point, disastrous, but now the annual production of artificial silk is fully 20,000,ooo pounds. There are various processes-collodion, gelatine and viscose. The viscose process now seems to command the field and is developing rapidly in quantity and quality produced. Here is a case where common wood pulp worth a few cents a pound, by a touch of the chemist’s art, is changed to a beautiful silky-appearing yarn worth from ,$z.oo to $3.00 a pound. An entirely new field 0 has been opened up and its development has just begun. Weaves, fabrics and patterns are numberless, but have reached a point where there is little that is really new or unknown. The greatest advances in textiles in the future must be along chemical lines. Coal-tar dyes, mercerizing, artificial silk-these and many others are already accomplished facts. The next steps rest in your hands and it is to the chemists we must look for the future developments. 7 8 CHAUNCY STREET,BOSTON
CONTRIBUTIONS OF T H E CHEMIST TO T H E FERTILIZER INDUSTRY By H. WALKERWALLACE Manager General Sales Department; Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company
I n considering what the chemist has done for the fertilizer industry we are dealing with a subject intimately connected with the culture of the soil, and while valuable services have been rendered in other directions it must be admitted that the most valuable achievements have been those which have had a direct bearing on agriculture, that noble calling which is the foundation, of all industry and the very backbone of the nation itself. Any contribution, therefore, which has advanced the condition of agriculture has indirectly benefited all avenues of trade. The science of chemistry has played a most important part in building up various industrics which are dependent on the products of the soil, but perhaps no service has been of so much value to agriculture as that which has caused the development of the fertilizer industries of the world. The tremendous storehouses of plant food accumulated through the ages have been made useful by the chemist, who has found means of converting them into mixtures which make i t possible to produce the larger crops made necessary by the ever-increasing population. Thus the tremendous accumulations of natural phosphates in this country and elsewhere, the large deposits of potash salts in Germany and the nitrate beds of S0ut.h America have all been converted into useful products The very air we breathe has been utilized in producing nitrogen compounds in suitrtble form for plant nutrition. I n addition to the various supplies of raw materials furnished in nature, large quantities of refuse substances from the various industries have been collected, treated chemically and utilized i? the manufacture of fertilizers. Seventy-five years ago the fertilizer industry was unknown. Liebig was the first to study the chemical composition of the ashes of plants and to point out the necessity of supplying plants with mineral food; he conceived the idea of dissolving bones with
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sulfuric acid and thus rendering the phosphoric acid soluble, in which condition it could be more readily utilized by growing plants. This, then, was the real beginning of the manufacture of superphosphate fertilizers. The treatment of mineral phosphates with sulfuric acid, however, originated with Laws, who took out a patent for the process in 1842 and established a factory, from which time the commercial production really dates. During the first years development was slow, but in the past thirty years there has been a steady growth until a t the present time the manufacture of fertilizers has reached enormous proportions in the eastern part of our country. I n the year 1900 there were produced in the United States alone 2,200,000 tons and in 1913 the production had increased to 6,800,969 tons. I n the building u p of this large industry what then has been the r61e of the chemist? I n a brief statement it is impossible to tell all that the chemist has done, but a few of the important features may be summed up as follows : I--He discovered the necessity of the industry by studying the composition of soils and plants. 2--It was the chemist who first suggested the production of superphosphate and established its manufacture. 3--The process of manufacture has been gradually improved so that the insoluble phosphoric acid has been reduced from two or three per cent to a fraction of one per cent. 4--He was responsible for the manufacture of sulfuric acid, which is necessary for the production of superphosphate. 5--He has produced a double superphosphate containing from 45 to 50 per cent available phosphoric acid. 6--His researches have made it possible to convert many waste products into valuable plant food constituents, which are utilized in fertilizers. 7--The nitrogen of the air has been combined and converted into forms suitable for plant nutrition. %-The chemist has worked out processes for saving the nitrogen in flue gases and coke ovens and converting i t into sulfate of ammonia. 9--He has worked out formulas and blended the various fertilizer constituents into the compounds best suited for different soils and crops. Not only has the chemist been of great assistance in working out the initial problems of plant nutrition and the production of suitable fertilizers, but his services are indispensable in the regulations of the operations of the factory. In these days of close competition and rigid government inspection, profits may be easily turned into losses or goods confiscated by the state inspectors because of unsatisfactory analyses. The manufacturer must, therefore, have able and competent chemists to do his work or serious consequences will result. I n fact, the whole manufacture of fertilizers is intimately associated with chemistry and largely dependent on it for its existence. Notwithstanding the large measure of success obtained in the past, there are still new problems to be worked out and the chemist will not have done his part until the science of fertilization is thoroughly understood and he has made “ two blades of grass grow where but one grew before.” RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE CHEMIST TO THE SODA INDUSTRY By F. R. HAZARD President The Solvay Process Company
The r6le of the chemist in industrial operations is to answer the question “Why?” Why did the ancient Egyptians use straw in making brick? Until very recently the true answer to this question remained unknown, but with the true spirit of
